246 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



yard. It has been in the name of Preston more than 

 eighty years. Wc have made use of it in a small 

 way, and I believe we may improve upon it. 



AMOS PRESTON. 



WlLLINGTON, Ct., Jtlhj, 1849. 



Editoiual Remarks. — Mr, Preston shows a noble 

 example in planting for posterity ; and had he not 

 done it himself, his children should erect a monu- 

 ment to the memory of a kind parent, who labored 

 zealously in his advanced age for their welfare. We 

 hope that he will enjoy a green old age, and share 

 with his numerous descendants the happy results of 

 his industry. Contrast his commendable example 

 with that of the selfish churl who will not plant, 

 even in the meridian of life, lest others reap ; though 

 he does not scruple to reap what others have sown. 



In managing his orchard, we would advise Mr. 

 Preston to keep it ploughed, and not take off crops, 

 unless the land is well manured. Let swamp muck 

 lie over winter, after dug up, that freezing and ex- 

 posure may improve it, then add ashes, or lime, or 

 both, in small or liberal quantities, according to the 

 expense. If it has been improved by exposure, as 

 we have recommended, it will be fit to use in a 

 month or two, or it may remain for months. It will 

 be better for being forked over. 



The more dead horses there are cut up and mixed 

 with it the belter. If horses are cut into rather 

 small pieces, and mixed with muck, and the heap is 

 forked over once or twice, the manure will be fit to 

 use after lying the greater part of one warm season. 

 After forking over the heap, apply some more muck, 

 or some loam on the top and sides, lest some pieces 

 of flesh come to the outside and become dissipated, 

 wasting the manure and infecting the air. 



There will be the greatest gain from the manure, 

 by applying it under the trees, or a little wider than 

 the branches extend. It should be ploughed in, that 

 it may come near the roots, and if it contains any 

 animal substance, it should be buried, to prevent loss 

 by the escape of gases. 



When an orchard is too far from the barn to haul 

 manure to it, so as to make it rich for the production 

 of other crops, it is best to pasture it with sheep, or 

 young animals that are not taken out by night : then 

 nearly all the food that they consume is applied in 

 manure to aid in keeping up the fertility of the soil, 

 and from small animals it is scattered over the land. 

 This is far better than mowing, as we have often 

 found by experience. And the consumption of fallen 

 fruit is a great protection against insects. 



Spent tan, put in layers with lime or wood ashes, 

 will become decomposed iu a few years, so as to be 

 an excellent manure for fruit trees. After lying 

 many years, not in very large or deep heai)s, and 

 becoming decomposed, it would be a good manure 

 without any other substance. We have raised large 

 crops on lands on which old hemlock-trees, bark 

 and all, decayed, and the land was far richer where 

 such trees decayed. 



As to the discount on the statement proposed, we 

 gay it should be liberal, but cannot define the exact 

 percentage. A cord of horse-flesh, with one or two 

 bushels of lime, or ten bushels of ashes, mixed with 



a few cords of muck, would make excellent manure. 

 But wc think there would be no advantage in scat- 

 tering the remains of one old horse, especially a poor 

 one, and such are usually used for manure, through 

 twenty tons of muck. 



HOUSES OF UNBURNT BRICK. 



Within the last five or six years, this style of 

 buildings has been pretty extensively introduced into 

 the Western States, especially in Illinois and Iowa. 

 Houses constructed of this material were supposed 

 to combine many advantages that were possessed by 

 no other mode of erecting walls, and consequently 

 there were many enthusiasts found, who fancied they 

 would ultimately supersede all other descriptions of 

 buildings for farm-houses, and out-houses, for horses, 

 cows, &c. In South America, Mexico, and in many 

 countries on the continent of Europe, unburnt bricks 

 have been employed iu the construction of walls for 

 houses, for a very long period of time, and it has been 

 found that when pains were taken in the preparation 

 of the material for the walls, they would successfully 

 withstand the greatest severity of wet and cold for 

 many generations. Walls of this description should 

 not be raised higher than one story, and should be 

 built upon a stone wall, raised at least thirty inches 

 above the surface of the ground, and should either 

 be protected by a widely projected roof or a verandah. 

 The stucco or jDlastering should not be laid on the 

 outside of the wall until it has had time to settle, 

 and become perfectly dry. If the walls are built in 

 the spring, the plastering might be put on in the 

 following autumn ; but it has been found best in most 

 cases to delay the plastering until a twelvemonth 

 from the period of the erection of the building. Sand 

 of the coarsest and sharpest quality should be pro- 

 cured for the preparation of the mortar, and only a 

 sufficient quantity of fresh-slacked lime, to firmly set 

 the sand, should be employed in making the first 

 coat, which, if put on in the month of October, or 

 when the weather is moderately warm, will be per- 

 fectly free from cracks, and by the aid of a second 

 coat of plastering, will prove, in most cases, impervious 

 to water for a very long period of time. 



Unburnt brick walls are admirably adapted for 

 stables, and other out-buildings ; but where stone 

 can be conveniently procured, the latter should be 

 preferred, as it is obvious they will make the most 

 durable wall. 



The following very practical remarks from the 

 Prairie Farmer, on the subject, may be found inter- 

 esting to a portion of our readers. 



When this mode of building dwellings for our wet 

 and cold climate of the north was proposed, some 

 five or six years ago, we had very little faith in it. 

 But when, at a later period, the opportunity was 

 offered of examining houses so constructed, our 

 opinion was modified considerably ; and we have 

 long been convinced that dwellings, of peculiar con- 

 struction as to form, might be made of unburnt 

 bricks, which would greatly reduce the cost of build- 

 ing, and would possess several excellences over those 

 of any other construction. 



There is no doubt, however, that attention must be 

 paid to the form of the building when constructed of 

 this material. A two-story house, with close Grecian 

 cornice, is not a fitting shape for it. Water and frosts 

 together have too convenient access to the walls, and 

 will be pretty sure to act upon them, especially if the 

 house should be provided with no spouts to carry off 

 the roof water ; nor, should these be added, would 

 the matter bo much mended. 



The proper form of a house to be built of unburnt 

 brick, is that of one story, or perhaps story and a half 



